Relapse
by iSnuffles
Summary: Raven Asakura can't say there's a lot in life to be proud of. Her job isn't something to bring up at the dinner table either. She'll digress for now but if the world can't see her as a drug dealer & a good person then there might be hell to pay. renXoc
1. Prologue

**Author's Note:** Yes it's another story! Fret not, fans of When the Summer Sky Shatters, I'm not abandoning it. I just needed to work out the appearance of the last two newcomers. Now with that all figured out, I'll update it. Even though I'm still waiting for that third review. But that's beside the point. I'd like to welcome you all to a new story, well one that I'm reading from my Quizilla account, and make you all give love and thanks to my beta for this story,- zMoonlitDreamz. Moonlit is amazing, go give her a hug.

**In the beginning, I never really caught on to what my family was trying to teach me. My Grandpa was, probably still is, a loon to the core- thinking that carting me off to America would give me a better education. What made him more of a loon was the school he sent me to. Excuse me, the **private** boarding he sent me to.  
Does that make any sense? Sending a scared lil' five year old girl on an airplane, for the first time, to a country she can barely speak the language of so that she can attend a school she's never even heard of? Let alone with no other family members to help her get going, oh no, that's be too simple for the Asakura family. They have to make everything into a challenge. Everything is 'training for when the moment is right'. ... Yes... I know that makes no sense. My grandpa had been feeding me that garbage since I was born- of ****COURSE**** it makes no sense. My family, my life, my friends, my whole fucking world makes no sense.  
Don't they know what happens to kids who go to boarding schools- didn't they ever read** Gossip Girl**? I really hate those books. They can pin things down so close it's not even funny. I mean, come on, you can't deny that things like that happen everywhere. What made them think it couldn't happen to me? Their little angel. Pft, as if. It's time to welcome the new world Gramps- not the feudal ear teachings you've been living in for the past century of your life. Shit happens! Just look at what a 'retarded, screwed up, wasteful, insignificant' person your granddaughter turned out to be. (I for one know that's not true. The rest of your world seems to think that.)  
You should try taking a walk in my shoes. Get to know my world a bit. You might have some fun.**

**  
Love you as much as I do milk,  
Raven.**

xXx

"Is this really what you want to show your family a week before you take your leave?"  
A grin escaped the lips of the teen. She kicked her legs onto the desk in spite of having been told not to quite likely a million times before. Her words played at her lips. "Maybe..."  
"Ms. Asakura! Could you at least try to be serious about this? This is your future we're talking about.  
"Mrs. Stein, could you at least try to be serious about this? This is my future we're talking about after all," mocked the teenager. She had a smirk spread across her pale face. She hadn't been able to get much sun in the past few years. She made a mental note to go sunbathing ASAP once she got out of this hell hole.  
'_Being in Juvie sucks...'_

Her thoughts must have echoed because the middle aged woman with glasses and wrinkles. "Ms. Asakura, in case you haven't noticed you are here of no one's accord but your own. If you did not want to have spent the past two years in this Juvenile Detention Center, then you should have thought about that when you started selling illegal substances. Do I make myself clear?"  
"Yes Mrs. Stein."

_'Why can't adults just use the word 'drugs'? Is it really necessary to try and sugar-coat anything and everything? Or are they just doing this because my family doesn't want to acknowledge I'm even in this dump?'_

She sighed and ran a hand through her hair. It felt like straw. She wasn't allowed to use any of the good stuff on her hair. Her brown roots had come back so it looked like she had brown spiked creeping down her bleached and colored hair- it clashed terribly with her rainbow highlights. She made a mental note to get her hair re-dyed as soon as she got out of the center. Back to the way she liked. Back like in the picture._ 'I guess I'm going to be disowned when I go home. The Asakura family is just too good for me.'_

The teenage girl always got disapproving looks from the advisors as she passed them. At least she knew how to talk to adults-unlike her roommates Coral and Aimee. Coral would flirt her way out of anything if she could- she probably slept her way out of big trouble. It wouldn't come as a shock to her. Aimee usually blamed someone else, pulled the innocent girl act or bribed her way out of trouble. Aimee usually got her money from Coral, but Coral had to get it from her father which could take awhile. Coral's family was soooo freaking rich it wasn't even funny.

"Can I please go now, Mrs. Stein? Or is there something else you need to ask me?"  
The woman sighed. Raven Asakura had by far been the hardest person she had ever had to deal with since her days of working at Juvie. She wasn't quite sure the ex-drug dealer was broken of her illegal habits. She would have liked to keep the girl but the court ruling was two years in Juvie, no jail time, no rehab, and no insane asylum. Obviously, the Asakura family had paid someone off. Eventually she shook her head to Raven's question.  
"No dear. Just... stay clean."  
A smile crept up to the young Asakura's face. "Don't worry Mrs. Stein, you won't be hearing from me once I leave next week." Internally, she smirked_. 'I won't be so careless,' _she reminded herself._ 'And get caught again. It'll be like I never even came here.'  
_

xXx

"Can you believe he actually had the nerve ask me to call him?"

I tried to listen to Coral as best as I could while listening to my iPod. Coral's dad must have pulled some serious strings after she put on her act when the news of her getting sent to Juvie in the U.S. hit home because compared to the other kids JDs (Juvenile Delinquents) we get treated like royalty. We got to keep our electronic toys, but we had to put the clothes we'd come in into storage like everyone else and to keep our toys we had to give up our monthly calls to home. I didn't mind. I sure as hell didn't want to hear Grandpa's rants about what a failure I had turned out to be. Let me say this- I, Raven Asakura am no failure- I just merely succeeded at what the rest of the world pretends to hate. They go around with all their "just say no" propaganda but as soon as they think no one's looking, they all come crawling out of the sun's bright lights and into the shadows. To my turf. My land.  
Let's face it; I was a Patron Saint back on my avenue. How I made my money shouldn't be the concern of the world. Heck, why did they even pretend to care? I had my citizenship, I went to school, I got great grades, I was on the Student Voice Committee, I'm pretty even if it's in a different way, I was admired by my peers, I was popular but with no strings attached as to why -I was a pusher- I sold drugs to the more than willing population of St. Branard's Boarding School. So what? I didn't push to kids. Didn't pretend to be all 'Crack is whack' in classes either. I was, still am, pro-choice in the matter. You want drugs? Want to make the real world go away for a bit? You want to potentially screw up your life for a few hours of 'fun'? Fine with me, be my guest in fact. I had what you needed. So long as my buyers knew what they were getting into, I supplied.  
It wasn't hard, well maybe I little at first, but I was a natural at doing dirty work. Or so I'm told. I'm a straight 'A' student, 3.8 GPA, played sports now and again, dreamt of college, caused a bit of havoc with subs just to keep the staff on their toes like any 'normal' Freshman would. Yeah, freshman, you heard me right. I was a pusher at 14. (Your point?) Anyways, I was the ideal student. How many times did I hear my teachers say; "Why can't you be more like Miss Asakura?" Let me tell you, so many times I'm sick of it. Playing perfect sucks, but I needed my cover. After all, who would expect little, sweet angelic Raven of doing anything wrong? I knew how to keep my butt out of trouble. That was, until I met _her_.

"I mean come on, who's dumb enough to think I'm getting together with the guy who teaches me trig after I get out of this dump?"  
"It's outrageous," I agree even if I couldn't care less about my roomie's dating problems with our math teacher.

Meet my roommate and 'sister'/best friend- Coral Oyamada. Classic blonde hair, crystal blue eyed babe. She, like I, is seventeen years old. We even have the same birthday, right down to nearly the same time too. We were both born on June 21st, around 11 o'clock at night, she's a few minutes younger I was born at 10:57. No wonder we're such night owls... Anyhow, her parents wanted to give her an exotic name because they wanted their first born to be well known and easy to remember in the world. Which she is, but again for reasons they'd rather not say. Let's face it, the Oyamada family just doesn't want to admit their daughter is a druggie, wild, flirt, party girl with a tendency to get drunk or high then wander off with the first hot guy she sees. Leaving me to chase her down at the end of the night. Note to self; get her a Chastity Belt.  
Needless to say, her folks were pissed when she got busted. She went down a few weeks before I did. Maybe that's why I was busted? Did Coral's epic capture make me get a sudden morality that could have possibly been the cause for the delay that got me caught? Maybe. Best not to dwell on the past for long- she sure as heck didn't. Her parents signed her up for a year of rehab but she only went for a month. Her story is that she ran away so many times (12) that they gave up on her and finally released her. I need to check in on that. From what I think, she got written off the list of being a good girl. Tch. In bed maybe. But don't let any of that get in your way or cloud your judgment. She's a really good friend- best I could ever ask for. Have you ever heard the expression, "A friend will visit you in jail, a good friend will bail you out of jail, but a best friend will be right there beside you saying 'Shit. We fucked up. ...Let's do that again!' "  
Coral basically counts as that kind of best friend. Heck, we sorta did get jailed together. After the Rehab bail, she got dumped in Juvie. Luckily the joint had no idea we were old partners in crime. Then they might have had to separate us. (The horror!)

So next comes little Aimee. She's a real cutie, in her innocent book-wormish ways. She's my other roommate and my other best friend. Jail birded around a year before me and Coral came 'round. She was a cook, a freaking baker in the fine arts of crystal meth. Divorced parents, dad's an 'holic-well more like stepdad, she was illegitimate and her real dad bailed while her mom was carrying her in her belly- and her mom was an addict. Luckily her mom didn't do anything but pot and she stopped during the pregnancy trying to get clean. That plan failed through. She came to the states with her mother right after they got divorced on her 6th birthday. How that for is messed up? Her mom didn't get clean when they came over. Her mom taught her how to make glass, as us dealers call it, but a fire broke out one day. The fire killed her mother, Aimee got a few bad burns on her legs from it, and from that day the girl swore to get out of the drug world. Befriending me and Coral wasn't the best of her ideas.

Obviously we have a few New Year's resolutions to keep for once.


	2. Tokyo

Author's Note: Just wanted to point out that some chapters will vary in length because of how they're formatted

**Author's Note: **Just wanted to point out that some chapters will vary in length because of how they're formatted.

"…WHAT!!"

The lone word hung high in the air as silence immediately ran after it. The walls of the building shook and trembled as the cry of amazement rang throughout the empty hallways.

Somewhere close, but outside the hotel, there was a nest, high and on top of a sturdy branch of an ancient oak tree. Inside it, a busy bird was currently feeding her chirping younglings. The little birds were oblivious to the startled yell from inside and were already causing an uproar contrasting to the still quiet that had overtaken the mansion after the voice.

"A **cousin**?! Are you sure? Since when?!"  
Two figures stood in the darkness of the hallways. Astoundingly, everyone else within the house was sleeping peacefully.

'_Talk about unfair. I want some sleep too.'_ Grouchy thoughts came from the one responsible of the outburst. The one who was apparently getting on the nerves of the person across from him in the hallway.

"No, I'm lying." In the dark setting, an elder man's voice dripped with heavy sarcasm.

"Really? Then why'd you wake me, Grandpa? I was sleeping- I could've been _asleep_ right now! Don't you know that it's going to be a long day tomorrow? Anna said she'd have me training **before** breakfast! It's awful!" A large intake of breath was heard as the horrified ramblings continued, "I'll have to slave around all day, and then do the shopping, and then do the cooking, and then run laps, and THEN-"

"WILL YOU JUST BE_ QUIET_ YOH?" snapped the eldest Asakura. "You've never been one to care so why start now?"

"I just thought-" But the elderly man held up his right hand to silence his complaining grandson.

Yoh looked down at the wooden planks on the ground floor and sighed, accepting tomorrow's inevitable fate. The crickets around the two Asakuras sang out their sympathy into the late night. Yoh tiredly leaned against the wall, having realized he was going to be standing and listening for awhile.

"…So I have a cousin?" The statement seemed almost radical at the moment. Yoh never knew that he had relatives. Now why couldn't grandpa have told him this earlier? He ran a hand through his chocolate brown hair and grinned.

'_Well, that's nice. Can I go to bed now?' _His sleep deprived mind questioned and yawned.

Sadly, Yoh's thoughts were clear on his face, despite the grin. The elder in front of him twitched in irritation at his grandson's natural carefree and bipolar personality. Why did his grandson have to be an idiot?

"Yes Yoh, you have a cousin_._ But most importantly, your cousin , she – Raven- is coming over from America. She had...a dilemma at school…

xXx

"…and has decided to come here for a bit."

Manta crossed his arms over his chest, suspicious about the sudden news. The Shaman King tournament was soon to arrive. Yoh didn't need any other stress or more trouble headed his way than necessary.

"What _kind _of dilemma?" Something about the way his father's assistant spoke made him alert to the fact that there was indeed, a slightly odd problem that came with this cousin's arrival.

"An _insignificant _school realted problem, Mr. Manta. I assure you, nothing too serious."

Manta huffed and sat down, still doubtful. He threw a wary glance to the assisstant and asked, "So when is she coming?"

xXx

"In about a week." Yoh's grandfather's face was grim as he muttered out the last of his speech.

"Cool," Before him, his grandson smiled, "Can't wait to meet her.." Silence rang in the air once again that night. "So, er..."

The elder Asakura raised up an eyebrow in wonder. "What is it, Yoh?"

"…Can I go to bed **now**?"


	3. Homesick in Juvie

**A/N:** Not much to say here aside for thanks once again to my lovely beta. I would have updates sooner but I could have sworn I put this in here already...

* * *

_'20…19…18...17…16…'_

The numbers in my head couldn't help but ring with anticipation of the future.

Correction, the _near_ future.

My eyes wouldn't blink as I stared intently at the large and plain clock looming ahead of me, above a certain person. The normally silent movement of the time recorder was suddenly so loud, with the ticks and tocks going by swiftly.

"…And so girls, I hope that when you leave us-"

'_15…14…13…12…11…' _

The lady before me and my best friend was literally speaking to air. I pried my eyes away from the clock to glance at Coral, only to see that she was mimicking my previous actions. Her eyes were glued to the long hand of the clock as it clicked to the right ongoing and slowly.

'_10…9…8…7…6…'_

My face was serious, trying not to show any part of my anxious thoughts on my face. My lips strained into a grim line and I turned back to the lady in front of me and looked up, respectfully. I could hear Coral besides me, drumming her fingers patiently on the top of her wooden her desk as the woman droned on.

"…And remember what happened here. Most importantly, remember _why_ you came here. Keep your heads out of the clouds, girls. Do that and I'm sure-"

'_5…4…3…2…1…'_

The countdown in my head was never so loud and passionate. I squeezed my eyes shut and braced for some sort of strong impact. My two fists clenched tightly on my lap and I could almost _smell_ the freedom ahead of me.

"-you'll be sucessful in-"

_'ZERO!!'_

"FOUR O'CLOCK! WE'RE FREE!" At that exact moment, Coral and I synched together in both thoughts and actions. We could both hardly contain the excitement.

'_And goooood-bye hell!'_

Without a moment's hesitation, Coral and I both stood up from our stiff seats and practically bolted for the door. My hands were already on the knob, eager and shaking as I forced them to turn. The door sharply clicked open and Coral behind me whistled in approval. With wide grins plastered on both our faces, we turned around one last time to scream, "BYE, MRS. STEIN! HAVE A NICE LIFE!"

I couldn't help but try and act the nice girl with my last closing sentence, "We'll miss you!"

The door closed behind us soon after we heard Mrs. Stein sigh. It was then Coral rolled her eyes and muttered, "Pssh. Not."

I peeked into the detention room one last time to see Mrs. Stein shake her head and mutter something. No sign of her following us out the room. Noting that it was now safe to rampage the building, I gave a thumbs up to Coral. Soon enough, we were running down the stairs, arm in arm, to the reclaiming box down in the office. We quickly presented the officers our "Official Dismissal" slips and after a few moments of hesitation and weird looks, they turned around, seemingly taking their _sweet_ time to get the few things that were taken away from us upon arrival in Juvie.

Yeah. That's right. _Juvie._

Why was I, Raven, stuck in Juvie for? Why, what a good question. Its something I should answer another time.

As for now, I desperately needed to shave. Lousy thing is, in Juvie, razors were considered dangerous and "non-necessities" that could be abused. So simply, they were banned. And upon my arrival in Juvie awhile back, I was sadly stuck with stubby legs.

After shuffling things in one of the backrooms of the office, I could see two men grumbling about labeled names. They stood around and finally handed both me and Coral an identical cardboard box, each, with our own names written in marker and in sloppy handwriting.

As one of the two boxes were handed over to me, I looked down to see a few of my personal things in it. The clothes I had worn when I entered juvie, such as my favorite pair of jeans, a black cami, worn out Converse, and a Aerosmith hoodie, were all stacked up nicely on top of eachother.

Next to the stack of clothes, my backpack sat dutifully. I raised up my right eyebrow in curiousity, wondering what I might've packed in. It was hard to believe I had forgotten about my own belongings. If my arms weren't so preoccupied with holding the cardboard box, I would've smacked myself in the forehead.

I carefully zipped up the zipper to the other side and peeked into the open bag. Still holding my box, I sifted it so that it its weight could rest upon my left arm entirely. I had to find someplace to lay down the box soon. I could already imagine my left air sore from fatigue.

With my free right arm, I reached into my bag and miraculously lifted up a razor, a pack of gum, and a thick envelope. When my eyes fell upon the razor, I could hear myself laughing, first out of bewilderness, and then of joy. Nearby, the officers were suddenly nervous and doubtful on my release. I guess my cackling was a bit loud.

I looked away and snorted. Coral's fit of giggles were also loud as she plunged into her own world and memories of her own box. I smirked and looked down once more and question about the envelope.

The edges were bent and the entire whiteness of the case was tainted. I couldn't help myself as my fingers unfolded the envelope and brought up photos.

"Huh?" My mouth nearly dropped open. Out of everything in my backpack, I had _photos_? I looked closer at one of them, immediately recognizing Coral in one of her parties. My lips twitched into a bitter smile. It was about a month earlier before her bust.

My eyes wandered over the photo. I could see that her long auburn hair was high up in the air and swinging as she danced. You didn't exactly have to see her eyes to know that she was having fun that night.

'_The music must've been pretty wild.'_ I chuckled softly to myself, already nostalgic.

I moved on to the next photo, which was of little Aimee. Her figure was petite and her hair was barely past her shoulders. Being a shy little schoolgirl, she was also the typical nerd. The neat ribbons in her hair enchanced her innocent eyes to a good extent, but they could also be very misleading.

I bit my lip, and stared harder, trying to sense any changes of her in this photo and of her after Juvie with us. Where was she, anyway?

"Raven?" A high-pitched voice interrupted my question and I turn towards it.

"Yes?" I look up from the photo of Aimee and turn my attention to Coral, still clutching the photos in my hand.

"You there?" Though she tried to repress it, I could see a frown forming on her face. Her concerned expression suddenly annoyed me.

"Uh, why wouldn't I be? I'm speaking to you right now, aren't I?" I throw her an amused look.

Now it was her turn to be irritated. She rolled her eyes and huffed, "No shit, Sherlock..but you kinda looked like you spaced out for a moment. You looked..."

When her eyes widened to emphasize the slang "kinda", I suddenly knew what she was implying about me.

"Don't. Just don't. And I'm not." I turned away, hoping that my tone was calm and carefree. The officials behind both of us were nosy and inquisitive. I sighed, hoping Coral took the hint. The last thing I needed was more months in this dreary hellhole.

Seconds passed and I finally heard her voice again.

"I know."

I nod in acknowledgement as she quickly catches on. I can see her, her pretty face showing how skeptical she felt in the situation. What were the chances that the officials would take our freedom from us again, no matter what we say?

Though I see her expression clearly, I still send her a warning look. She wants freedom as much as I do, and she better not jepordize it. I glared at her, intent on silently getting that point through to her.

"So where's Aimee?" I lightly try and steer a nice conversation again, full of wonder and excitement. Sadly, my tone is still cold and a bit defensive.

Coral realizes how tense I am and acts along with me. She sighed in mock boredom and I smiled a bit. She was born to be a great actress.

"What? I want to know!"

"Don't you pay attention?"

"Huh?"

"Andrew said he found out that she had some family back in Japan!"

"No way!"

"Uh-huh!"

"So she's coming with us?"

"Hell yeah!"

"AWESOME!" I looked around and smirked. I was no longer pretending my excitement in front of the officers. Boldly, I walked side by side with Coral and out of the office, boxes in our possession.

Once out of the door, we squealed, completely thrilled that the three of us wouldn't be seperated. A new surge of happiness pumped through my veins as me and Coral headed off to go find Andrew, who was further inside the building. He was in the main office, the sign in/out guy.

_"Kyoyama?_ Never heard of them," Aimee sighed, tiredly. Finding her family was such a hassle. Extra stress she didn't need, actually.

She then turned her petite little body to both me and Coral - a heart wrenching expression of grief and worry drawn on her face.

"Do either of you know of a Kyoyama family?" Her voice was hopeful, already calculating the posibilities. She knew that since both me and Coral were Japanese, we'd be good to ask.

"Hm…I _think_ I do." The name did ring a bell or two in my mind. I just couldn't figure out from where.

"Really?" She looked up at me eager and helpless at the same time. I just couldn't say no to her.

"Er…yeah... I think so." My tone wasn't as confident as I liked it to be and I looked away, defeated.

Coral nodded instead in my place, and placed her hand on my shoulder. "Don't worry kiddo, we'll help you find your family." If I focused hard enough, I could've sworn she was lying inbetween her teeth. Before I could say anything, Coral turned to Andrew, suddenly in charge of the three of us.

"Is there an address?" Her tone was demanding and she posed with authority, which would've been quite hilarious if I wasn't so sympathetic to Aimee.

Andrew nodded in to reply, "Yeah... but I can't read it...it seems to be in Japanese."

Aimee abruptly snatched it with a tender _'Ooh. Let me see!'_ expression and handed it to me. "Raven, could you read it?"  
"Are you doubting my literacy skills?" I cast her a half-playful look and laugh. My fingers slid down the slip of paper and my eyes scanned the foreign address. "Hey, read this," Out of confusion, I look at Coral and hand her the slip.

Coral carefully read over the adress after me and glanced back at me. "What's wrong?"

"Uh, it couldn't be right. Why would Aimee's family be _there_?"

Aimee stood up straighter as she heard her name. "Why would my family be where?"

Coral cleared her throat, determined to see some sort of mistake. Her voice was clear and plain as she declared outloud, "Flame Inn Road, Funbari Hill. Nothing wrong with that."

"Yeah, but I just wondered why her family ran an Inn." Pfft. No offence to Aimee and all, but that seemed a bit far-fetched and odd.

Which lead to my other doubts, _How on earth did Coral even buy that?_

The wind blows slightly, and I see Aimee adjusting her bangs and tangled strands on her face. She moves to stand in front of me and locks my gaze. For once, her voice is steady and strong: "But do you know **where** that is, Raven?"

_Excuse me? Was that a challenge?_ I blink, unmistakenably perplexed. It doesn't take long for all of it to sink in though, since I promptly answer back.

"Of course I do! We can all go there."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Definitely."

Both Coral and me grin at her and I can easily see Andrew's happy for her. I look up at the tiled ceiling of the hellhole and my mind is already outside, swimming in endless freedom. Despite my hopes, I couldn't help but get a nagging from the back of my head. I should've warned cousin Yoh in Japan that I'd be visiting _with_ friends. I look back down at Aimee, her cheeks flushed and face beaming, and sigh.

Oh well.

If luck's on my side, then Yoh loves surprises.


	4. Absent For So Long

Come on, did it really make sense for them to just ditch us onto the streets without a second passing glance? I swear these people are such idiots. Leaving a supposedly reformed druggie and a supposedly clean record-ed pusher with, guess what, an actual reformed glass blower, was the STUPIDEST idea an adult had ever had. But who's complaining? I was free; I wasn't stupid enough to jump back to Carlisle and the rest of my old gangs so quickly. As much I wanted to, I had to get out of the fucking place.

Now.

"Japan here I come," I announced throwing on my iPod, keep the music surprisingly low compared to some people my age. Coral nodded in agreement and jumped on her suitcase one last time in attempts to close it. Ah, the burden of being filthy rich.  
"Can't wait to get off this rock. This place SUCKS!"  
Limited vocabulary after years of prep school, yup, that was Coral for you. Blonde party girl to the core.  
"What do you think Ai-chan?" I asked Aimee, trying to get back of the habit of adding honorifics onto the ends of everyone's name. "Ready to find your missing relatives?"  
The little girl nodded enthusiastically. Her way of saying 'You bet I am'. Poor girl was so silent; I really forgot she was there sometimes. I don't mean that in a bad sense either- being unnoticed is very good at times. Especially if one was lost or wadding their way through to real world- the drug world.

_**Shit happens! Just look at what a 'retarded, screwed up, wasteful, insignificant' person your granddaughter turned out to be. (I for one know that's not true. The rest of your world seems to think that.)**_

I smirked. Gramps would be getting that letter today or he had already gotten it. Shit would hit the fan for sure when I got home. And to me, that's perfectly fine. My world revolves around stress, drama and the need to survive. By definition of 'Survival of the Fittest' and 'Darwinism', so should everyone else's worlds. I don't really see it though. Ah, well. Sucks to be them.

"Nice face, dear." Coral always noticed little things like that. When I go off commenting my life and narrating it as if someone was listening. Wouldn't that be a laugh?  
"Ready to part the Red Seas and cause all hell to brake loose?"  
"You have no idea..." I replied dryly.

Don't get me wrong- I was looking forward to moving back to the sweltering hot country at this time of year formally known as Japan. It's just I have such a past here in the States. In the States is where _she_ was born. Lexie. My sister, my blood, myself. She was the darker side of me, if you will. The mask that I wore during business hours to protect my superhero identity so that I wouldn't get shot down while flying overhead to keep tabs on my people. (And trust me- that happened enough already.) She was literally my street name. One would usually find me at the corner of Lexington for whatever perfect excuse I had for the day. Waiting for a friend, keeping away from home et cetera. And having it be a cutie-pie name didn't hurt either, that way when one of my classmates at school called me that, teachers would just think it was a nickname or a pet name I started going by because my parents had no originality and name me after a BIRD!

(Speaking of bad names, I'm not the only one suffering. Poor Yoh- got stuck with 'leaf'. And Coral's a piece of endangered rock. ... Yup. Real winning names there.)

But either way, what could I do with Lexie? Bury her with my hatchet, so to speak, I guess. Six unforgiving, cold feet under. But since when do I listen? Screw those advisors from Juvie; they don't care about me or my friends unless it's bringing more money to them. But I respect that fact; I never cared about half of my clients unless there was personal profit for me. My point- I knew the drill. They didn't have to sugar coat everything like they would for a six year old.  
Lexie would come back from the grave I would temporarily bury her in. Just long enough to get through airport security. I knew she'd be back.

Maybe I should throw her a welcome home party...

xXx

"A twenty hour flight?" Yoh echoed back over the roar of the vacuum cleaner. He's eyes sparkled. "So she'll be here today- er, tonight?"  
Anna glared at him. "Didn't I just say that?" She asked him in a dangerous tone. One that suggested hours more of labor and hard work should he annoy her enough. He was getting close to that point on her temper scale. Things would no be pretty at all.  
"Sorry..." Yoh replied weakly and went back to the cleaning his holy terror of a fiancé' had instructed him to do. _'Maybe she'll be able to get Anna to be nicer...'_

It was nice thought, but it wasn't happening anytime soon. In his cleaning of the living room in added a few characteristic twirls. What? He was excited about having another person in his family- maybe they weren't a boring fart!  
Anna rolled her eyes at her fiancé's immaturity. But, still it was his cousin coming home after being away for more than ten years. Maybe, just _maybe_ if he did all his chores without complaining, she'd give him off tomorrow to... ug... hang out with her. Besides, this girl was an Asakura, right? She'd be able to take over training for awhile and give Anna the break she so rightfully deserved.

xXx

"RAVEN ASAKURA! I'M GOING TO HUNT DOWN YOUR ASS AND **KILL** YOU!"

Coral's voice got just about everyone in the airport to turn around. I took no threat or concern to her remark, but kept walking forward as if I didn't know her. The plane ride had taken twenty freaking hours and she wouldn't shut up. For once, I had wished I didn't know her. Luckily, I managed to fall asleep with an hour left to go on the plane. Don't get me wrong, I did my fair share of talking; I just got annoyed with Coral going on for six hours about the same boy. The Starbucks Coffee boy. The one with the 'magic touch' from where they fingers grazed when SHE grabbed MY Carmel Frap because she wanted to get a good look at the boy. "He knows what to do with whipped cream," she joked as we had left. She winked back at the guy she would never see again.

Speaking of winks, I got a few from random guys on my way to the baggage claim. Sadly it was mostly from dads with their kids (ew! I cannot express just how wrong that really is!) or really fugly fat guys with grease stains all over their shirts. Why is it that hott guys never seem to notice me?

"So I'll see you tonight?"  
"Definitely."

I turned around to see some guy with brown hair and red streaks walking away from exasperated Aimee and a Coral looking very pleased with herself. How is it that five seconds after landing in Japan she could get some guy's number when I couldn't even have gotten a date for the 8th grade dance cruise? Wait, I forgot, guys drool over Coral without a passing glance to me. I'm so not jealous though!

"Already?"  
"Mmm-hmm. Why, haven't gotten any requests?"  
Only by perverts. "Not my type," I answer with a sigh to it. "Didn't you say you had a ride worked out for us?" Watching a sweatdrop form on her head did my nerves no good. Please say yes, oh god please say yes.  
"About that..."

Oh god, she _didn't_?

"Raven, don't give me that look. Of course I got us rides; my uncle wouldn't want anything else to happen to me. The only thing is the condition that came with it..." Her voice trailed off and I sighed once more. Conditions? Weren't you supposed to mention things like this beforehand? Aimee must have agreed with me because she now looked even more miserable then before.  
"What conditions?" She asked softly while tugging at the hem of her white hoodie. Ah, bless the girl, she was inhumanely cute.  
Coral laughed. "Don't be worried!" She cried out, taking each of us by the arm and linking our arms with hers. "You just have to meet my uncle when he gets back to Japan in a few months. I told you he flies back and fourth, right? Ah, see the sign? Look, Watson already got all our stuff. Let's go to the parking lot now."

I nodded. Where else would we be going? Besides, it could have been much worse than that. After all, we were meeting Aimee's family or whatever was left of them once we got settled in. And I called home to Izumo already- they said we were going to stay with Yoh and Anna at the Inn they lived in. Guess gramps didn't want to see my tattooed face just yet. In retrospect was kinda disturbing to me, Yoh living with his fiancé. Anna is 13 and Yoh's... Yoh's... ohmygod... how old is Yoh? I'm such an idiot. And since WHEN was Yoh the dating type? He always seemed really lazy-from the few years I knew him... when he was supposed to be going to preschool.

... ... ...

Point taken. I have no clue what Yoh would even look like. Well brown hair... okay maybe some idea. Too bad he didn't still have those stupid headphones I bought him right before I left for the states...

xXx

"You got the address?" The driver asked. Aimee pulled out the piece of paper Andrew had given her right before we left Juvie and read off the address, leaving out 'Kyōyama' that was written at the top. With a nod, the driver started the car and began the drive.  
"If you don't mind me asking, why are you three lovely ladies head to the Flame Inn? Don't you know that place is haunted?"  
"Haunted?" I heard Aimee echo with some fear and dread in her voice. "C-come on, there's no such thing as ghosts, right Coral? Raven?"

Silly girl, what did she expect me to lie and say no? I wouldn't agree or lie about ghosts and spirits not existing. I am a shaman, it would be insulting. Instead I just smirked and looked at Coral who had a grin on her smug, perfectly flawless face.

"S'matter Ai-chan?" She asked teasing Aimee. "You afraid of ghosts? Think the girl from the Ring is going to come up and kill you?"  
Aimee rolled her eyes and said stiffly, "I'm not afraid. I just can... never mind. It's stupid."  
Now this was getting interesting... What was my little Aimee hiding from me? Now I could probe her dreams later tonight, but that would be no fun. Being a gossip, I was interested NOW. So I tried to pry it out of her with Coral.  
"Come on, Aimee! You have to tell us."  
"Promise not to laugh."  
"Or call you stupid."  
"Or laugh and call you stupid."  
"Pleeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaassssssssseeeeeeeee?"

She was about to cave but the stupid driver announced we were there. So we got out of the car and into the chilly night. A hush fell over us as we gazed at Funbari Hill's Flame Inn. A sign with 'closed printed in kanji on the lamp post. The wooden gate was closed and had a similar sign, 'no vacancy.' For some reason my heart began pounding in my chest.

Would Yoh remember me? Could I really remember him as much as I thought I did?  
Would I be able to find another convent all the way here in Japan?  
Would the money be just as good?  
And what about Yoh... I never really cared about what people thought of me before but for some reason, I felt an overwhelming need to impress him. Not that being a Drug Dealer wasn't impressive enough. So did that mean I was having remorse?  
No. I regretted nothing. I, "Lexie" Raven Asakura, was a good person, a great person.  
The rest of the world had just yet to see that.

So that brings me to one last question; was Yoh more of a Glass or LSD type of guy?


	5. Konnichiwa Bitch

**Author's Corner:** Yeah, sorry for no update. I'm working on getting this beta-ed but I think I'll b publishing and then going back and replacing chapters with a beta-ed version. So here's two updates in one day.

* * *

So where were we? Heart pounding, sudden doubt of everything society thought of me (the possibility of it being true?), worry, dread, the driver leaving, the sound of glass… shattering? I blinked and glanced at Coral and Aimee.

"Guess we'll get along great, huh?"

I nodded and grinned. Yup, sounded just like the type of home I had become accustomed to in Izumo. Only there were no shouting threats about 'training'. AKA Jumping off a cliff because it's 'Training me for when the moment was right'. Makes me glad to know that my family has been convinced I'd be jumping off a cliff, to my death since I was five. But with no shouting or threats about training, it seemed like it was going to be a very long visit.

**"YOH ASAKURA, IF YOU DON'T GET YOUR ASS OVER AT THE DOOR, AT ATTENTION, RIGHT NOW, YOU'RE GOING TO BE RUNNING LAPS UNTIL THEY MAKE YOH FLAVORED JELL-O!"**

Wow... talk about ironic.

I laughed a bit and got odd glances from Aimee. _"What?"_ She made it seem like the Asakura family wasn't one giant basket case.  
Aimee sighed. "Never mind. It's just-" But she stopped and with wide eyes and pointed forward. So I looked in the direction she was pointing in (like I was going to look anywhere else).

Coral was already at the doorstep, about to ring the bell when a large man came _through_ the door, rather distraught. He passed straight through Coral who was spazzing out to some song on her iPod with her eyes closed. When the guy went through her, she didn't even shiver. He had white hair, a black yukata that was opened-chest, two katanas in their sheaths at his side, what looked like a white robe with cross hatches and two shield-based pieces of armor at/on his shoulders. A samurai in every essence.

"Who- him?" I asked, pointing at the man who had so rudely gone through Coral. Ghosts and spirits seriously need to learn some respect for Shamans.  
_**"YOU CAN SEE ME?"**_ Shouted the ghost at the same time that Aimee whispered something barely hearable, I think it was the reverse of his question.  
"You can _see_ him?" Was her question.  
I nodded, "Am I not supposed to?"  
"But I'm a ghost!" Shouted the man. Man, was everyone trying to make me go deaf? "If you see me than that would mean you would have to a-"  
"Shaman?" Piped in Coral with a grin.

I grinned back at her. Though I never once spoke of being a Shaman to either of my roommates, _anyone_ in fact, I had a hunch about them. With good reason too!  
Take Aimee for example, she had seen and heard her mother (may she rest in peace) die in a fire. I think that if you see enough death or that if death hits you hard enough, you might begin to see the ghosts and apparitions of the dearly departed. Besides, look at how many people claim to see their dead relatives at the funeral of said relative? A fair few. Case holds true with Aimee. Not to mention her just hanging around me was bound to open her sixth sense a bit.

As for Coral, I couldn't quite have been sure. She always did seem interested when I fooled around with my Tarot cards or gave readings to fellow _inmates,_ excuse me, classmates. Not to mention during free periods or when we both happened to skip classes at the same time- me to deal and her to do whatever- I would sometimes find her nose buried in these weird looking books. I couldn't recognize the words on the papers or the cover but there was an etching of skeleton on it. I think those books were written in German because there were marks over the letters like in Fräulein or Führer. During I party we went into there were a bunch of kids who were rumored to be in some big black magic cult that stayed completely away from Coral. Like she had the plague. Truthfully I never exactly thought she was a Shaman as well, but I knew there was **something** up with that girl.

"So do you... stay with Yoh?" I asked the spirit. I couldn't exactly say 'live' because, well, he was dead. And I didn't want to insult him either.  
He nodded slowly. "Yes... so you know Master Yoh?"  
I smiled. "Yeah... you could definitely say that." Coral laughed a bit at this. "So how do you know my little cousin?"  
"AH! So _you're_ the one Master Yoh has been so excited about meeting!"

Excited? Yoh was excited about MEETING me? Hello? I'm his cousin! Didn't the brat _remember_ me?

"My name is Amidamaru, I am his familiar," said the Samurai with a bow. "And who might you ladies be?" But his voice was not the only that asked that. A female voice joined his, the one who has shouting earlier.

She was standing in the doorway, glaring down at my trio. Her dark eyes glinted with a malice of sorts, Aimee inched behind quietly, I could already tell me and this new blonde chick would _NOT_ get along. She was wearing a black mini dress and a red bandana held back the dirty blonde hair that came down to her back. What is it about blondes and long hair?!

"Well?" She asked. Her voice was dripping with venom and her glare intensified. She was the very image of the spawn of Satan, the exact image people took us Shamans for.

So what did I do you ask? I smiled sweetly, putting on my good girl act that I used to use on teachers, "We're looking for a friend."  
"You'll find no friends here. I suggest you leave now."  
"But Mistress Anna!" Shouted Amidamaru "These ladies are the ones Yohmei told us about." He then pointed at me. "She is an Asakura, Lord Yoh's very cousin! She told me so."  
"And you _believed_ her?" The bitchface girl, Anna, asked. She had issues already.

From my side I noticed Coral was losing her temper. "Why wouldn't he?" She ignored Anna's questioning glance to signify that we could see him. "Who are you to question _him_?! Amidamaru is a samurai, an honorable warrior! You're just a cold, heartless-"  
"Coral." She halted her mouth to my calm, warning voice. Ah, the perks of dealing, your customers always listened. "Excuse her temper Anna-san," I said far too polite than she deserved. "My name is Raven. I am indeed an Asakura and a Shaman at that. My training includes that of a Miko and Soothsayer, from Keiko my aunt and Yohmei whom would be my grandfather. I believe he told you of my arrival?"

She nodded curtly."But not of theirs."  
"I have relatives elsewhere," said Coral. A clear not-like-I-would-stay-with-you-even-if-I-did tone. "But don't worry; I'll be dropping in to see Raven."  
"And what of her?" Anna asked glaring at Aimee.  
"I-I-uh... well..."  
"Speak up!" The devil child barked.  
Aimee flinched. "OneoftheworkerslookupifIhadanylivingrealitives," she blurted out at once but caught herself. "And... the address I was given was this one..." She pulled out the slip Andrew had given her and warily walked over to the doorway where Anna snatched it from her. She read it over silently then crumbled it up.  
"Impossible!" She roared. "You have no relatives here!"  
"B-b-but the note..."  
"Is a lie!"

During the shouting a boy with short, spikey brown hair and orange headphones walked out. He bent down and picked the note. "Kyōyama, Flame Inn #24 Funbari Hill, Tokyo, Japan," He read aloud. "Anna is this for you? It has your surname..."

Surname? So that would mean...

"No way..." Coral was grinning. That would make my little Aimee and evil Anna family, cousins most likely.

Well Konnichiwa bitch, where's our welcome to Japan?


	6. Lying Keeps One Youthful

As fate would have it , however less imaginable, his sudden appearence seemed to clear the air

As fate would have it , however less imaginable, his sudden appearance seemed to clear the air. The tension wasn't completely gone, just seemed to have been put aside... for now. And to the young ("Ex"?) drug dealer's mind, it was sort of like the nightmare that parents had about their kid getting taken away only to meet up years later but the parents don't recognize them until it's too late. They, the child, had either run off or had just been found dead. It was just like that.  
Only more surreal.

Never the less, questions couldn't help but be exchanged.

Were those _really_ the same headphones she had given him before she left?

He couldn't remember.

Did he ever take them off?

Only to bathe. Obsessive much?

What about the Samurai?

They were friends. Joined up after protecting some wussy kid from a gang of punks run by an Elvis-wannabe, according to the she-devil. The pair was going to fight in the upcoming tournament together.

What about **her?**

How old was she?  
Seventeen- three years older than he.

What about her rainbow hair?

She had died it at the start of high school just with a view red streaks and it evolved to their being almost no brown hair left. Only strands that formed different segments, each with a different color. Her bangs were yellow, beside was a different color.

Cool. The tattoo was cooler though.

Tattoo? She had almost forgotten about them to tell the truth. She had a wing-like design on each cheek. It didn't hurt, she was pretty numb during it. No she wasn't drunk, Coral would vouch for her. But she did laugh a lot while she got inked. Did that make her a masochist?

No. What... exactly was it?

Didn't she just answer that? Demonic wings she used to help control her Yami Shikigami. No one really paid much attention to them in the States, even if they did they just gave her a weird look and that it. But here in Japan, well, she had forgotten that tattoos typically banded a person from most public places since tattoos used to be only for seperating criminals and convicts from good citizens. That and it made most Japanese people think you were with the Mafia...

He didn't mind. So where did she go to school?

An old Prep Academy but she had been homeschooled in Juvie for the past two years with her friends.  
"Lucky," he said. She got the feeling like he had been alone for a long time. He sighed. That only confirmed it for her. It was an I-wish-I-had-friends-to-be-homeschooled-with sigh.

So what type of music did she listen to?

A lot of things, just about everything but Blues and Country. Mostly Rock, Alternative, Punk, Emo, and some stuff from Broadway. She loved Phantom of the Opera.

No J-Pop?

No. Well, very little actually. Whatever was the theme song for the animes she watched.

"So why'd you come back to Japan after all these years?"

The smile faded from her face. _"Oh_... I got in some trouble with school..."

xXx

It was really dark out but no stars could be seen. That was okay, I was used to not seeing stars by now. I just thought it'd be easier to see them all the way in Japan than in the US. There was a bit of breeze, just to cool the humid air that would surely choke those who were not used to it. Meaning I was dead by now...  
Me and Yoh had sneaked out from the living room and the chaos that was going on. I thought I'd be the one to butt heads with Anna but Coral beat me to it and the clash of the titans was currently taking place in the living room. My guess was Aimee and Amidamaru were talking quietly in the corner. But what a Samurai and an ex-glass blower, someone who made crystal meth, could possibly talk about, I had no idea. Maybe it was about killing people or doing things that the rest of the world considered foolish. But lets be truthful, if we can get past the in class 'moral' discussion answer we can realize the truth- _both their jobs kick ass._  
So with my 'kick ass' job, why was it I was suddenly unable to speak of it? At Juvie, I had no problem bragging about my three year dealing spree, one could in fact say I was a bit of a bragger when it came to that. I was respected by most of the people 'attending' it and as detached as possible from the adults.  
So why is it now that I had actually seen Yoh, I found it impossible to speak of my old job?  
I'll tell you.

When I saw Yoh, there was just something about him. A bright light shining in the ever darkening world. An escape rope so you safely get out of the burned down research lab on Cinnabar Island with having to restart your Pokémon game. A cup of hot chocolate on a cold winter day.

He was innocent.

His chocolate brown eyes burned into my violet ones and for once I felt as though all the law enforces and adults were right. I was a criminal. A tainted white rose. A dirt rag that was meant to be thrown away. A _monster_. For that first moment when I recognized him a single word flashed through my head.

**  
Devil.**  
People used to call me devil child all the time before I moved to American and 'started anew'. I was sure he'd gotten his fair share of taunts as well but in the spilt second I knew it was true. I was a devil in America. A trickster in true form. I deny nor regret none of it. I was a drug dealer. Always will have been- nothing was going to change that. But Yoh...

He was innocent. He deserved so much better than that. To face the horrid truth about me, his cousin. And although some might say for this he deserved the truth, I would feed him nothing but lies just as Coral and Aimee would. He didn't need to know about my past. Nor did I of his. I'd remain silent and the world would pass by while he formed his own opinion.  
Still, his question caught me off guard.

_"Oh_... I got in some trouble with school..."


	7. Vision

I'm horrible, I know... Gah... here I'm putting up two chapters to make up for not updating.

* * *

"Yoh isn't home yet..."

At the dinner table sat half of the usual group; Manta, Anna and Aimee.  
"Neither is Coral," noted Manta. He was reading some huge dictionary about anything and everything in the world. He had his nose buried in it just like he had for the past three hours.  
"Don't expect her to be," I answered. I was sitting, or rather lying, on my stomach on the floor with my Tarot Cards spread out in front of me. I tried concentrating on them, focusing my entire attention on them but that can be a bit challenging when Anna was muttering threats of harming Yoh under her breath. I've yet to see her lay a hand on, physically at least, on do much of anything that made her as evil as the boys described her. She trains Yoh, that's all. Sure it can be exhausting and painful but those seem to be the only things that he even responds to. If it doesn't put him in bodily harm or if it doesn't have anything to do with music, he simply just won't put any effort into it, the lazy bum. Let Anna have her bitchy fun running him all around Japan, I say. Get his butt into gear before it finds a why to genetically fuse itself with the couch. So long as she doesn't bother me, I'm fine. Though it was kind of hysterical to see her try to boss me around… I kind of got slapped in the process but I'm beginning to think I'm the only one in this house who thinks of retaliating with a blunt object…. Maybe it's just nostalgia for my own 'gangs of new york' privileges from when someone pissed Lexie off…. Something to work on later, I assume. But not now, as always I've found a way to worry myself.

For the past week I my dreams were exactly the same... it _had_ to mean something. The location of the dream changed little- sometimes I was surrounded by a blinding light I had to shield my closed eyes from and sometimes and was in this endless pitch black where I couldn't even see my own hands. Either way it would start off with the man calling my name. The name echoed endlessly as I walked around, groping for something to find and attach to because I couldn't see. My throat ached in the dreams, like I had inhaled some harsh drug for the first time, and I couldn't talk. I had nothing to do but try and find the owner of the voice.

You know how with nightmares if you wake up and go back to sleep you fall back into the bad dream? Weird thing was, with nightmares if I can wake up three times from them and if I go back to sleep I can get a good dream but this time...  
Each time I woke up the voice changed.  
It always was the same _owner_... I think. Lemme explain. Last night when I first had that dream of the voice calling to me, it was definitely a man's voice and he was calling my name. Eventually I woke and found that my window was open. Let me note I **never** open my window. I open the door if I get hot so I don't have to worry about a creep coming in through my window. But other than the open window I saw no signs of break in, and trust me, me and my familiars checked the entire Inn.

After we checked the Inn, I went back to bed and fell back into my weird dream. Only this time the voice calling to me was Yoh's. He was screaming actually, he was in _pain_. And the worse part is-  
It was my fault.

I don't know how I knew, I just did. That feeling in your gut you got when you knew something was wrong only I knew that the reason he sounded like he was being killed was because of me. Not mention he was screaming things like "Keep back!", "I hate you," and "Take me, don't touch them!"

Now that was just chilling. I woke up in a cold sweat and ran to go check on Yoh. He was fine; fell asleep listening to an old Bob Marley track, so I went back to bed. Well guess, what? I fell back into the same dream. And I know you're getting really tired of hearing about it but this is when I finally figured stuff out.

xXx

_I was in the blinding light when baby began to cry somewhere in the distance. Their crying grew louder and louder until even I was about to scream __**shut up**__ at the kid.__Same voice as the other times I fell asleep. Footsteps echoed in the distance. When they stopped, he spoke again. __"Why do you shield your eyes? Is this power to awesome for your mortal senses?"  
__I nodded, still feeling as though my throat had been burning from a new drug. The voice sounded cold and sharp but for some reason... welcoming. Like I had known the owner for years before. It was as though I was meeting an old friend for the first time in years. __  
"Why are you here?"__ The voice repeated. __"These are sacred grounds of which you have no claim. Explain yourself!"__  
He spoke the last two words in such a commanding voice one the left me no choice but to answer. __"I don't know..."  
"What do you mean you don't know? You couldn't have gotten here with the intention to do so! Do __**not**__ lie to me girl!"  
"I'M NOT!"__ I shouted loudly. The baby's cry stopped and I felt someone pull my hands away from my eyes. Opening them, I saw the light had dimmed and the baby was sitting before me. His blankets were covered in talismans and chains. I went to go undo them, ignoring the fact that the talismans were meant ones of protection to restrain demons.__  
"Don't touch him!" __The voice commanded. It sounded as though the owner was standing beside me but no one was there. I took a breath, readying my defiance.  
__"Why not?"  
"Because I told you to. And if you have any brain in the insignificant waste of a body, you'll be wise and __obey__."  
__  
__Oh. My. God. What. The. Fuck?  
__  
__That really hit a nerve. I'm so sick and tired of people telling me that I'm useless, a waste, evil and insignificant. And this... voice inside my head_- don't look at me like that!-_had _no_ right to talk to me like that. And at this point I didn't care if I was standing in front of a little kid, he was too young remember anything that I was about to say, my ego had been struck and I sure as hell was going to strike back.__  
"Who the hell do you think you are?"  
"Excuse-"  
"No. _Shut it and listen up."_ I could tell he wasn't used to this type of treatment because there was a slight gasp... maybe it was a growl.__ "I have __**no idea**__ how the hell I got here. You choosing to believe so or not is entirely up to you but no __**not**__ call me _an 'insignificant waste'! _"  
__I could hear him scoff at the end of my little rant. __"Such brave words. Is that your death wish?"  
"_Death Wish?_ Dude, you're freaking invisible! As far as I'm concerned, you're not even there!"  
"Then you are a fool. I am everywhere around you and-"  
"Yet nowhere." __I finished for him, crossing my arms around my chest. This guy was seriously annoying me. With a sigh, I brought my attention to the baby once more. __"So what's with him? Why is he chained up like that?"  
"Those talismans are for restraining demons."  
"... I knew _that_, thank you," I growled sarcastically.  
"You're welcome?"  
"Jesus Christ... you're really hopeless. I meant _why_ is he chained up and talisman-ized?"_

_  
__There was a pause and I felt myself drawn to the child and now kneeled beside it. Surprisingly enough, the voice didn't say anything against it. I pulled back the covers a bit, hearing my breath hold as well as the other guy's. The baby had a light tan skin, thin brown curls and beautifully deep brown eyes that could melt your heart; he looked up curiously at me unsure of what to make of me. __  
"He is a demon," __The voice answered. Now I knew demons, by both senses of the word. Especially since the majority of the world considered me one. He was not a demon. He just was... misplaced.__  
"You think so? Woman, who are you to say that he won't grow up to become a __monster__?"  
__  
__Odd. I don't remember voicing the baby's innocence to the voice.  
__  
__"And who are to say that he wouldn't be able to change his ways?" I found myself saying. "Who are __you__ to say he isn't deserving of another chance?" __There was a pause. I knew that back at my old school, anyone else would have gotten slapped clear across the face for saying that. The only people who would do that to me were to the people who didn't know I dealt. They were the fools who would later get jumped by my more trusted clients.__  
"What's your name?"  
"Raven. What's it to you, stranger?"  
__I heard him chuckle.__  
"You will call me _'tono'_, Raven." __He corrected me. Ug. He was an arrogant piece of meat. I could tell. He continued, __"No doubt you have a surname."  
"Asakura," __I smirked and decided to humor him. _"Tono,"_ I added, mimicking his__ arrogance __confidence.__  
"Asakura... you must be a Shaman, yes?" __I nodded slowly.__ "Don't be ashamed Raven. Take pride in your abilities for you have been blessed far more than you might ever know."  
"And you know this how?"  
"I have my ways. But I'm curious, you do not admit the normal chi of a Shaman whom would be able to cross the line and enter here-"  
"Where is here?"__ I interjected. It really bugged me that I didn't know.__  
"Be calm. You will now all in good time. I repeat, you do not admit the normal chi of a Shaman whom would be able to cross the line and enter here. Where does your training and background lay?"_

_Again there was a hidden command buried within his voice. Something told me, deep down, I would be a fool to lie to him. He would know and he would do something to end the action.  
__  
"My grandfather raised and trained me to be an Onmyoji," __I left out how much, or rather little, I had gotten done in my six years of training and life before I left for American and had to train myself.__ "I would hardly consider my skills more than adept."  
"But you're aunt wished for you to be a Miko and was unable to get you to convert paths? Now... you specialize in divination by use of tarot cards?"  
"Yes..." __How did he know that? I never mentioned that or-__  
"And you've the ability to summon familiars from darkness?"  
"Yeah…"  
"And you're able to enforce their abilities with spells you use alongside your Tarot cards in battle?"  
__Woah. This guy was weirding me out. I nodded. What else did he know about me?__  
"Many things, Raven. Your soul is an open book to such a skilled Shaman as myself."  
__**"Who are you?!"**__  
"A god."_

xXx

Like I said, it was a weird dream. There was no way I had made all that up in my overactive imagination. It **had** to have been some sort of spiritual connection. After all, he said he was a Shaman. So here I was, sprawled out on the floor with my tarot cards waiting for Yoh to home and hoping that Coral hadn't gotten herself in too much trouble. With a groan, I peered down at the three cards I had laid out. The Fool (reversed), The World (reversed) and The Tower (face up). The same cards in the exact same order and positions as I had been pulling for the past hour and a half. I stood up not even bothering to clean them up, a silent act of rebellion against Anna, and headed to the door to get my shoes.

"Where do you think your going?" Anna called out sharply. She seemed more pissed off than usual.  
"Out," I replied.  
"What about my lesson?" Aimee asked timidly. Ever since I got it out of her that she could see, hear and touch ghosts, me and Coral (who oddly turned out to be some German type of Shaman that I couldn't pronounce) had been trying to develop her skills as a Shaman. Which, in essence, she was considerably good at for being distantly related to Anna. She had progressed and was now gaining control of her mana. My currently goal was to get her able to channel it into different parts of her body and focus it enough to draw it out. That way whenever she found a proper partner or Shamanic form, she would be able to create an Oversoul.  
"I'll give it to you later." I slipped on my slippers and reached out for the door when the she-witch called for me again.  
"Where are you going?" She repeated.  
God. Did it really matter that much? "Out," I replied and closed the door behind me. "... To find Yoh."

* * *

(( "Tono" means "my lord" in Japanese))


	8. Silva & Chrom

Stupid boy. Stupid, ignorant, self-centered assface. Seriously, **who the hell does he think he is?** Making me drag my butt all over Funbari Hill just to FIND him. I swear to god if he's at that music store listening to Bob Marely's latest album...  
Hell, I tell you. Complete hell.  
Now I know I'm being a bit uncharacteristically mean. And I know I promised I'd behave a bit better here, for his sake anyway. But while I was out looking for Yoh, who was going to have hell to pay with the she-devil once he got home because he was supposed to have made dinner an hour or so ago, it brought fourth this unwanted nostalgia. Well...  
Not nostalgia exactly. (I didn't really mind having to look for someone, but it sure as hell put _Lexie_ in a foul mood.) But De-ja-vu for sure. Searching for Yoh was far too similar to having to hunt down customers who owed cash or some sort of exchange for their 'tab' with me. Now I know, it doesn't see like the best idea for Drug dealers to keep tabs with someone, but _come on!_ Imagine this; the school's bully Godfather (or mafia leader, whichever you prefer) goes to you for a little "pick me up" but doesn't have all the cash on him at the moment. Would you turn him down?

I didn't think so. Let's be logical, who would be stupid enough to NOT start a possible business relationship with the school's godfather? That would give you sooooo much freaking protection if you got into trouble, or decided to turn your life into a doppelganger of** Alpha Dog**, it's not even funny!  
Anyway- back to what I was saying. Needless to say when you had to hunt someone down for their dues, it wasn't usually a happy occasion. Usually I would you my spirit familiars to help me out with that. Lift them in the air, knock them around a bit, maybe even suffocate the a tad if it was needed. Besides, they were dead useful when the idiot decided to pull a gun out on me. It's absolutely priceless to see the face of some macho who's acting like their about to shoot you have their gun knocked out of their hands by "nothing" after you've just muttered a spell under you're breath, but otherwise, haven't even moved an inch.  
"He better not have gotten himself into any trouble," I muttered under my breath. That would just be our luck wouldn't it? Find him dead in some alley because he didn't want to give some punk his money. "Shit..."  
The cards. I bit my lip and quicken my pace as I headed to the music store. The cards I had drawn were _The Fool, The World and The Tower._ The technique of divination I was using had each card represent a different time period. The first card represented the past, the middle was the present and the last was the feature. The two cards I had just begun to worry about were the World and the Tower. Well... the Tower really. That's what I had drawn for the future. **What if I was at the crossroads where the future became the present?** Double crap. I closed my eyes briefly and prayed that Yoh would keep his head in whatever sort of trouble he was in. Why? Simple. The Tower, face up, was never a good sign.

Disruption. Conflict. Change. Sudden violent loss. Overthrow of an existing way of life. Major changes. Disruption of well worn routines. Ruin and disturbance. Dramatic upheaval. Widespread repercussions of actions.  
All of those were possible meanings/interpretations/reasons for (or when) the Tower was drawn. In short, you never wanted to see that card get drawn for your present or future. _EVER._

By the time I turned to the last street before the music store, I had picked up a run. I had been hearing a fluttering sound, like bug wings, but ignored them. It was still hot out, bugs were to be expected. I was so close to the music store when something scaly shoved me. Letting out a small yelp of shock, I fell to the ground and skidded on the sidewalk as if I had been riding a bike. Ow.  
"What the fuck was that for?" I shouted as I pushed myself off of the sidewalk and to my knees to inspect the damage. I ripped up my hands so I wouldn't hit my face, they stung. I had rubbed parts of my legs and arms raw. Blood trickled down my elbow from a nice cut there. Nothing a little bit of rubbing alcohol couldn't take care off.  
"Hello? I'm waiting for an apology!" I heard a clicking sound in response.  
Wait... Clicking? I looked up and almost screamed. About a foot away from me stood, on four legs, this hideous looking bug. It had huge pincers and was just so... ewwwww! Did I mention it was like three feet big?  
Ho.ly. Shit.  
"Yikes! Get away from me!"  
And with that, I crab-walked myself backward as fast as I could into... legs?

_"Are you not fond of my familiar?"_

xXx

A heavenly sent cool breeze washed over the two. _'Perfect,'_ he thought. Everything for once, for this small moment in time, truly was perfect. Really it was. The stars were shining beautifully in the perfect spot to gaze at them. The two now good friends were side-by-side, just like they had been for awhile.  
Yoh sighed contently, unaware of the hell he would raise when he came home. Unaware that Raven was ready to call the cops, thinking he was about to be killed or that Anna was ready to put out a sign with his photo on it reading- **WANTED: Dead or Alive**. Poor kid had lost track of time.  
"Ahhh. This place is still the most comfortable, don't you think Amidamaru?"  
"Yeah..."  
Yoh blinked and rolled over to face his ghostly friend. Amidamaru never just said 'yeah'. If he were to agree, he would say more than that. "What's wrong?"  
"Nothing," replied the ghost. "I'm just worried about the Shaman Fight."  
"Not you too!"  
Amidamaru sighed. "It's just that... It's been almost half a year since I met you, Master Yoh. And you have greatly improved as a Shaman, integration runs smoothly-we can even integrate fully after that fight with the Chinese boy, Ren, and it even runs smoothly as well. But... as I spirit I cannot grow stronger! And with only my death-bound abilities, I doubt if I will be able to help you in the Shaman Fight. I... am worried! About your safety and your cousin's as well as her friends' safety."  
Yoh grinned and couldn't help but laugh. "Is that all?" How he could be so slack bothered Amidamaru, who promptly threw a momentarily fit. "Come on, Amidamaru. We won't know about anything 'till the time comes. I've never even bothered to think about the future. Puts too much stress on the body. Ya know? And I wouldn't worry too much about Raven and her friends. She seems like she's ready for this. Her and Coral were pretty giddy when we talked about the Fight. Who would have thought Manta's had a cousin too? And a Shaman at that..." He looked off into the distance for a moment as if remembering something. "Coral seems pretty strong to me... she was actually summoning dead bodies here yesterday, or at least so I've been told. That seems _better_ than Anna even! Anna only deals with spirits but she was dealing with the bodies!"  
"That does seem impressive," Amidamaru agreed. It was indeed one step ahead of Anna if it were true.  
"And Raven's... Raven's got these freaky **monsters**! She summons familiars just like my grandpa did only these ones are different. They're like... I dunno creepy I guess. She and Coral are good. I'd doubt they let anything happen to Aimee either. They seem tight like that. Besides, everything will be alright. Why worry about what we can't control?"  
Laughter came from behind them. "No words wiser," said a voice from behind. They turned to look and-  
"The street vendor?!"

xXx

"Shaman Fight Selection Committee?" I scoffed. "Prove it." True, this guy already knowing about the Shaman Fight was probably proof that he was in on this. But I wasn't going to take any chances. What if you was a psycho killer out to eliminate his competition?  
The man sighed. He was really tall, about 6'3" with broad shoulders. He had russet skin, lips that Angelina Jolie could be jealous of, muscles that told me he really should be a body guard. "I repeat, my name is Chrom, Asakura-san. I am from the Native American tribe, the Patch-"  
"Never heard of them," I interjected. Did he mean 'Apache'? He sighed again.

"We are a tribe entirely made of Shamans like you and I and-... I'm sorry, my Japanese is quite horrible, as is my accent I'm sure."

_Boy was that an understatement._

"You lived in the United States for a while. Did you not, Asakura-san?"  
"I did..."  
"Then might we please switch to English?" He begged in his slow Japanese accent.  
"Sure," I replied and switched to English. I was still more used to that anyway.  
"Thank you!" He bowed and pulled something out of his pocket. It was a Dark Pink Color, and it had a gray screen in the middle. There were straps and buttons, with these lighter pink pointed things  
sticking out at the ends.  
"What's that?" I asked.  
Chrom chuckled. "This is an Oracle Pager. Should you agree to be tested for qualifications towards the Shaman Fight, I will give this to you. It will display instructions, possible missions, ways to accumulate points and the dates of times for any of your fights. All will be given by the Great Spirit, I trust you know of him?"  
I nodded. Who _didn't_ know about the Great Spirit?  
"Then you have no choice but to accept my challenge- to a match."  
"Can't. I need to find my cousin."  
"If you decline now you will not get another chance for 500 years, you are aware?"  
Again I nodded, "Yoh's more important than a stupid competition."  
"Ah, so Yoh is your cousin? Fear not. He is well, my peer should be visiting him in several minutes from now. Do you still wish to decline? I have others to test before the night is over."  
So Yoh was safe? Damn. Why did I have to get so worked up over nothing? "Alright Chrom, I accept your challenge."  
He grinned. "Very well. I wish you luck."

"Heh, says you."


	9. Qualifications for the Shaman Queen

Author's Corner: My creativity has failed me

**Author's Corner:** My creativity has failed me. For this, I must announce that the familiars Raven summons are Heartless from Kingdom Hearts. (DO NOT OWN ANYTHING FROM THAT SERIES, FINAL FANTASY OR SHAMAN KING)

XDDDD

Meh. This chapter is the first I've written in Raven's fighting style so it's a bit choppy. I'll smooth it out in other fights.

After my agreement, Chrom explained the rules. I had at most ten minutes to qualify after he officially declared the match having started, I only had to land one blow on him (no not the bug like I originally thought) and other than that, there were really no rules. AKA Be careful because either of us could kill each other and it would be okay.  
"Do you understand everything I have just said, Miss Asakura?"  
"Yes. But I have one question."  
"Of course. Ask away."  
"WHY THE HECK WOULD YOU PICK THAT FUGLY THING FOR YOUR SPIRIT PARTNER?!" I COUGH shouted COUGH asked while I pointed at the buggy-monster-thing.  
Chrom chuckled. "In the Patch tribe, we either earn or are rewarded with spirits to use as fighting partners. This thing as you call it is actually one of the spirits of the nearby forest in the Patch Village and is a voracious hunter. I earned the right to claim him after I became of age, after slaying a deer for my peers to eat at a council meeting. Is there anything else you wish to ask? No? Very well," he swept his left hand over his right forearm and traced his fingers along some sort of black piece of armor that bore a strong resemblance to the bug. "Then I now declare this match officially open." With that there was a bright light and I saw that the bug had attached itself to his arm, flickering dully.

xXx

With those words, I rose my left hand to summon three of my familiars. Out from the shadows of the buildings around us, a small creature emerged. Its body was made of a round head with two antenna sticking out from it, a thin neck, a round torso, tiny hands that didn't stick that far out from is sides and long flat feet coming from short legs. Not a very intimidating creature, but they always got the job done.

He feinted left, and stupid me tried to have a familiar cut him off at the right but with a swipe of his hand, his monster bug kicked its legs and shook the ground with a fierce force. My familiar dematerialized.  
_'Dammit,'_ I was beginning to thing that the bug oversoul he had was only to freak out any girls he was suppose to test. Sadly, it was working.  
Nine minutes left.  
"Come now, I heard the Asakuras were great Shamans, the greatest in all of Japan!"  
"They are," I muttered. I just happened to be lacking in the fighting department. But hey, no time like the present, right?  
From my left, his bug devoured another one of my ant soldiers. The soldier beside it stood like an idiot. Nope, not even the cute face worked.  
And of course I had to have left my Tarot cards at home.

Just like my grandpa used talismans to control his Shikigami, I used Tarot cards. Without them, my Shadow Shikigami pretty much acted by themselves. All I could do was someone more, force them to 'hide', and integrate them with each other. Made I should listen to Anna when she tries to drag me off for training...

"Eight minutes," Chrom announced dully.  
I growled and brought my hands together as if I was going to pray and recited the sutra I had known since I was three. My shadow warriors and ant soldiers retreated towards me as they sunk into the ground. Coming out at my side, they had regrouped into a much larger Shikigami. One that looked like a Chinese dragon with demonic wings.  
Chrom seemed surprised to this. Which, of course, I took to my advantage and rushed him. My flyer Shikigami must have gotten the clue because I heard its wings flap rapidly behind me.

"To me! Defend your master!" Chrom shouted and his buggy-monster flied right in front. I tried to stop. Keyword: **Tried**, but failed miserably and crashed into the thing. _What the hell was I thinking? Charging at the guy!_  
I wrestled with it, trying to keep it from attaching itself from him all the while trying not to scream. It was that disgusting.  
Chrom chuckled, "Seven minutes."  
Grrr. He was really getting on my nerves.

xXx

Any bad thing I've ever said about my Shikigami, I officially take back. The demonic creature had so graciously yanked the creepy bug off of me and left Chrom defenseless. He was shouting for his spirit to come to him but the huge grasshopper from hell was being flown high into the air.  
_Please let it fall and smash into pieces._

I was now running at Chrom, who really had an annoying smile on his face. As if he was _happy_ I was about to qualify for the Shaman Fight. Getting next to him and slowed my pace to a casual walk. A satisfied smile played my features.  
"Touch," I announced as I poked his biceps. Chrom began to laugh heartily as he disengaged his oversoul, the bug disappearing from the grasp of my Flyer.  
"Congratulations Raven Asakura!" He boomed, "You have now passed your qualifications for the Shaman Fight! With the Great Spirit to bare witness, I hereby present you with this Oracle Pagers as proof of your qualifications. As earlier stated, it will tell you _everything_ you need to know about the Shaman Fight and if any of the others on the selection committee try to bother you, show them that and they'll leave you alone. Got that?"  
I nodded and disengaged my Oversouls, now realizing there would be no surprised attacks.  
"Very well. As you will find out later, there are special features I've added to the Oracle Pagers I make that will differ from the ones Silva or Karim or any of the other officials make. Sadly, I must go now. I have many other people to test, the entire country area must be covered by the end of the night. I wish you luck, may the Great Spirit be with you."  
"And also with you," I said as if I were at Church. Chrom reactive his Oversoul and did something to it. In a flash, it grew ten times it's already freakish size and he jumped on its back.  
Now if he were going to do that, why the hell did he disengage it to start with?

"What a waste of mana..."


	10. My Flower

**Author's Notice: Eh, sorry about the long update. . . Um, here have ren. ^^**

"..."  
"He's... he's.... **Not** here!"  
My fists rolled up and tightened, I held my mouth shut with my teeth, still letting out an aggravated scream. _Unbelievable!_ After all the effort I put in, dragging my ass down to the music store (he wasn't there either) to look for him so Anna wouldn't come out and kill him herself, then to the Chinese restaurant (but they were close), then I checked the park and he wasn't sitting on the swing sets. The last thing on my list was this Funbari Hill cemetery- he already had Amidamaru as spirit ally, right? So I don't think he'd be here for another one. Turns out, I was half right.

**"Where on Earth is the little brat?!"**I growled, watching as my breath came out in a hot puff.

"If you're looking for the kid with the headphones," came a voice from behind me, "... then you just missed him."

I turned around slowly, half expecting to hear the voice I had heard in my dreams and the body that went with it but I could already tell that it couldn't be _him_. No, this voice didn't have the overwhelming sense of command that could force possibly even Anna into submission. Besides, the voice in my dream told me he was a god. Perhaps I had spoken to a Shinigami last night? I suppose that could make sense, my aunt and mom _did_ push for me to be trained as a miko after all.... It only made sense that sooner or later I would be able to come in contact with some sort of divine figure. Yes, with the impression I was left with when I woke up -aside with the sudden need to check on Yoh after all the first few dreams last night- that I had come in contact with something I never should have. I hope that doesn't come back to haunt me- no pun intended. Nevertheless, this guy standing in front of me did not seem anything like the man from my recent dreams.

He wasn't insanely tall, I was maybe an inch or two taller, but he definitely wasn't short. He was wearing a dark yellow school uniform that matched his golden eyes, which seemed to be watching me as well... almost like a COUGH creepy perv COUGH lion stalking their prey. His skin was like a darker peach in the moonlight. Not to mention a spike in the middle of his head. What was that for channeling chi or something? Or a mohawk gone bad?

"Well?"

I blinked. Had I actually been _staring_ at a guy I _just_ met, no saw? "What? Sorry didn't catch what you said before." Smooth, I know.  
He smirked and crossed his arms arrogantly over his chest. "Never mind, you just answered my question by with your idiocy."  
Hahahahahahahaha- _no._ "And what question did I just answer _sir_?"  
"The one where I asked what your relationship to Yoh Askaura was," the boy stated. "It obvious now that you two must be related, being oblivious must be a trait that you Askauras passed one very well."  
"Excuse you?" Dear god, why is it the first time a good looking guy even acknowledges my presence, without intention to ask for drugs or Coral's cell phone number, I have to go and turn it into and argument? Coral was so going to kill me when she saw me tomorrow at school....  
"Feh, did I offend you?" he mocked.  
I glared at him. "No not at all," my voice was overly sweet. Ug. It reminded me of one of the bitches I pushed to back at prep school in the USA. Too bad I got thrown back into a prep school once I got to Japan, I almost could have escaped them. Damn grandpa, 'watching out for me'- for _once!_ The asshole had yet to come and even visit me after causing a fuss like he was going to bring all 75 lords of the underworld the beat my sorry ass the moment the plane touched down in Japan. Men. Complete jerks, be it an old geezer like gramps or a teenage one like Sir-spikes-a'lot over here.

"You'd best watch what you say miss," he warned. Ignoring his dangerous tone and pulled my left lower eyelid down and stuck out my tongue, blowing him a raspberry. With my other hand behind my back, I concentrated my mana into it, summoning one of my flyers. I felt it stay in my hand and creep down me to the shadow of the tombstone behind me, slowing 'shadow-jumping' until it made its way to behind the tree where the purple hair guy was standing. Quick and silent, just like I needed it to be. Flyers had always been my favorite Shikigami to use, even if they did look a tad bit ridiculous in the light. Still, the little dragon like devils got the job done, even impressed me from time to time too.

What happened next was no surprise. Spike boy got wide eyed like someone had just slapped him- apparently he wasn't used to getting taunted by girls. He made a motion like he was about to rush up and slug me. _"Why you little-"_  
**"Master look out!"** From somewhere in his yellow coat a spirit in flame ball mode had popped up and was gesturing to where my Flyer was. Spikey shot around, ready to fight off a human foe or another spirit; he was completely taken back my Flyer rushing at his face.  
_**"KRAAAAAAWWWRRRR!"**_ My Flyer screeched as it almost had a head on collision with Spikey's face but the boy jumped away just in a nick of time.  
"The hell...? What's that?" Spikey half shouted. He whipped his head around to look at me. No sooner did he ask that did my Flyer come back around and tackle him to the ground.  
"What's the matter?" I asked trying to hold back my grin watching him wrestle with my creature of darkness. They tussled for a few moments before the boy grunted and picked up a weapon on the ground that I hadn't even noticed. Maybe if I had, I would have just tucked tail and left because I was in serious trouble if he decided that his curved blade on a spear was destined to cut my head off my shoulders. As if to prove my point that I was in serious trouble, he created an oversoul with the weapon and the spirit, slicing at my Flyer and destroying it in one slash. Well, that had felt good for the moment it lasted; being able to see the skinny boy jump like that even with his ghost having warned him of its coming better summon another one to protect me from that blade. Guess that- ... hold on... _ghost_? Looking behind the boy I saw there was indeed a giant ominous figure of an ancient warrior clad in armor totally different from Amidamaru's. I tried to think of where the warrior might be from but just kept drawing up blanks. I guess I'll have to ask the walking encyclopedia formally known as Coral's little cousin Manta. Bronze chest plates, disks, knee guards, lots of leather underneath metal and a helmet that reminded me of something the Trojans might have worn. The warrior ghost looked a lot tougher than my shikigami, especially since my shikigami just look like... weirdness. "So… you're a shaman too?"

"And it would appear you are as well...." He looked in my direction, quite interested in my new flyer. "What is that?"

"A shikigami," I replied happily as my red, yellow and purple flyer perched on my should, making me giggle a bit. It wrapped its arms around my head and snuggled it. _Awwwwww, ain't my weirdie the custest~?_

"An Onmyouji...amazing. Master... its amazing isn't it?" Asked the warrior. Spike-boy scoffed. "It would be if she knew how to use that."  
"I heard that!"  
"Pity I still can hear you..." He muttered and turned away, facing his back to me.  
A gust of wind rippled through his loose school uniforms. Betcha he has a nice body under there. Whoa, whoa, whoa! _Down girl, down,_ can't be having thoughts like that after just being in Japan for a little over a week. Coral must be rubbing off on me...

"So that's it?" I asked as the boy and his ghost began to follow the path across the bridge, past me, and on the way out of the cemetery. "You're just going to walk off after being a complete assface without another word?" He stopped and glanced back at me with a smirk but remained silent. What was up with that? "Not even going to tell me your name or why you've got this thing against my little cousin?"  
"Ren."  
"What?"  
_"You can call me Ren!"_ Spikey, er I mean, Ren said a little louder than necessary. "And what qualms I've against your cousin, are nothing to concern you. He owes me something... that's all."  
I nodded, resting my hand on my chin. It made perfect sense. Heck, I'd have issues like that if I was having issues with a debt being owed to me. "Want me to get him to fork it over?" I offered not knowing that he was referring to wanting Amidamaru for his ally.  
No answer.  
"Ren? Ren?" Where'd he go off to now?! I ran ahead to the edge and looked over it. Ren had already made himself down by the gate. _He's fast._ "HEY REN! ARE YOU IN THE TOURNEMENT TOO?" The jerk didn't even look up at me or wave. His ghost did give me something that looked like a thumbs up though.

"Fine," I scoffed at the retreating figure. "Pretend I don't exist. I'll show you," I muttered and sat down on the edge of the bridge. "I won't tell you that I know that 'Ren' can't be your real name. I'll pretend like I don't notice your accent. And I'll pretend that the alias you gave me isn't a girls name that means _water lily_."

As I ranted to myself I couldn't help but smile. He might have been a jerk, but I have to give props where props are due. He was a pretty nice looking jerk, even strong looking too. I'd be lying if I didn't want to see him again.


End file.
